What Are Trust Issues?
Why Do People Have Trust Issues?
Signs of Trust Issues
- Inability or unwillingness to believe others
- Persistent fear of betrayal or abandonment
- Excessive jealousy
- Struggle to forgive, hold grudges
- Continuous accusations
- Invasion of partner’s privacy
- Setting up traps to catch the partner in an unfavorable light
- Persistent focus on the negative
- Feeling responsible for everything
- Avoiding intimacy
- Avoiding commitment
What Do Trust Issues Affect?
The various ways trust issues can negatively impact relationships are detailed below.
Work Relationships
Romantic Relationships
Further, some will use trust issues to validate unhealthy or toxic behaviors or habits, often experiencing a sense of ownership over their partner. This can lead to mental, physical, or sexual abuse. A national survey found that over one-third of men and women experienced sexual, physical, and/or psychological violence by an intimate partner.1
Platonic Relationships
Family Relationships
Yourself
What Causes Trust Issues?
- Adverse childhood experiences
- Social rejection
- Trauma
- Mental health conditions
- Previous instances of infidelity
Experiential Origins of Trust Issues
Social Origins of Trust Issues
Mental Health Origins of Trust Issues
- Adjustment disorders
- Anxiety
- Attachment issues
- Delusions or hallucinations
- Depression
- Paranoia
- Post-traumatic stress
- Schizophrenia
Four General Principles for Enhancing Trust in a Close Relationship
There are four general principles you can use to enhance trust in a close relationship: honesty and integrity, non-defensiveness, understanding, and direct communication.
Honesty and Integrity
Non-Defensiveness
Understanding
Direct Communication
What Is the Best Way to Help a Partner Who Has Trust Issues?

Space for Communication to Grow
Talk to Your Partner Regularly
Express Care and Consideration
Introduce Them to Your Loved Ones
Analyze Things From Their Perspective
Get Help for Trust Issues at Pacific Beach Health
At Pacific Beach Health, we can help you overcome your trust issues. Our team provides a dynamic, holistic approach to therapy that is tailored to your needs. Whether you feel that you need to work through trust issues that arose in childhood or need help resolving conflict in your romantic relationship, we are here to help. Contact us at Pacific Beach Health today to get started.
Resources
- https://www.cdc.gov/violence-prevention/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258189184_The_Relationship_Between_School-Aged_Bullying_and_Trust_Shyness_and_Quality_of_Friendships_in_Young_Adulthood_A_Preliminary_Research_Note
- https://media.healthdirect.org.au/publications/CarerGateway_Resource_02_Effective_communication_techniques_v03.pdf